Saturday, December 15, 2007
If I was King for 14 nights
1st night.Land Reform:
Land will be redistributed.
The Black Hills of Dakota will be returned to the Sioux.
The sons and grandsons of Rockafeller have inherited vast fortunes.The sons and grandsons of slaves inherited a broken promise,40 acres and a mule.Slaves built this country and worked much harder than John D Rockefeller.We will live up to our promise.
2nd night:Prison Reform:
All non violent prisoners will be released from prison.For those accused of violent crimes,new tribunals will be set up to determine their culpability,re.
Mumia, and
Leonard Peltier.For those whose culpability is confirmed,new centers will be set up to rehabilitate.
3rd night Military Reform:
The military industrial complex will be disbanded.Our troops will be sent out around the developing world to help build their infrastructure.
4th night.Bank Reform:
Disband The Federal Reserve and Income Tax.The Federal Reserve is neither.It is no more federal than Federal Express and there is no reserve.They have a license to print money that they turn around and lend with interest to the government.Guess who pays for that?Your income taxes,a completely illegal tax that was never approved by the Supreme Court and introduced at the same time as guess what,the Federal Reserve during Christmas in 1913 when everyone was on vacation.The main reason Americans fought the revolutionary wars was to get rid of a British central bank that was doing the same thing as the Federal Reserve.
Credit card companies will be reeled in and banks will be regulated and forced to pay back fees that do not realistically reflect their costs re: $35 for a bounced check or 30% interest for credit cards?
5th night. Agricultural Reform:
No more farm subsidies.
No more dumping toxic chemicals or animal waste on our lands and in our rivers.Give back the land to small farmers.Allow them to grow hemp.Encourage all to use crop rotation and composting to replace nutrients instead of chemical fertilizers and pesticides
6th night.Industrial Reform:
Industry must be held accountable for any and all pollution costs.A green tax should be levied on all industries that produce anything that cannot be recycled.At the end of their use the old TVs and micro waves will be returned to the manufacturer who will be required to disassemble and recycle.Any cost for incineration will go back to the manufacturer.My neighbor's taxes will no longer pay to dispose of my fridge.
Corporate crime has a devastating effect on our economy,and heavy fines will be levied on corporations who are in violation of the laws.
Corporate welfare will be terminated.Whether it is farm subsidies,or the bailing out of failed industries or the stock market, it is costing the American tax payer billions.
7th night.Health Care Reform:
Free health care.Freedom to self medicate.If you feel exhausted and you want to chew coca to keep awake, if you want to take Ecstasy because you've been traumatized, if you want to smoke pot to increase your appetite or to stop vomiting or just to get high,or if you want to drink ayahuasca or peyote,so you can expand your conscious, then this is your life and your right.As king I will mind my own fucking business.
8th night:Education Reform:
Let's take the police and the word "program" out of our schools.School is not a jail and I don't want my kids programed.We can build school buildings that will change the way children view education.Lots of sunshine and fresh air.Art and music everywhere,a celebration of life in the air.The teachers will come to work because they love what they do, not because the mortgage has to be paid.Children can read their insincerity.School is not just about reading,writing and math,there is so much more to life,than just making money and children understand when you say,"you must get an education"..........."so I can be just like you and your program?".Get rid of all this testing and high pressure,don't we see where that leads us,The path we are on is a dangerous one.Should we just keep going because that is all we know?We need to change our relationship to money and we need to accept our mistakes and lead our children to a better place.If our schools are charging $40,000 a year then we are not teaching our children anything except to be like us,which we can see is wrong.Education must be free on every level.Ignorance is just too damn expensive.
9th night:Housing Reform:
No more ugly houses,PLEASE.My eyes are hurting.I can't take it anymore.America is such a beautiful country.How could you sow the countryside with all that vinyl siding and PVC piping?It is ugly for a reason.
Vinyl chloride is poisonous.One of the by products in the manufacture and the incineration of vinyl is dioxin,the main ingredient in Agent Orange.The same poison we were castigated around the world for using against the enemy, we are stock piling here at home.Does anyone think this is a good idea?
Formaldehyde.It is in your cushions, carpets and particle board and it is poison.
Housing should only be made with natural materials.This is not expensive.It is cheap and once built with all the water recycling and energy producing technology it is cheap to maintain.Everything in nature has a positive effect on nature and recycles back into nature except what people produce.Linear which is the opposite to recycle can only work for so long and then we will suffocate in our own toxins.
10th night: Transportation Reform: The day of the car is rapidly coming to a close.The price of petroleum will force change or we can start now and make a painless transition or we can all suffer the consequences.Remember the gas lines of the 70's?Well this is going to be far worse,because the pumps will be dry.So what is it going to be?Public transportation using trains,trams and streetcars is the only way we can move around together without using too much energy,but if you wait till most of the oil runs out,it will be too late to build the infra-stucture .I believe an efficient system can be built alongside or down the middle of our roads.For example,we are on 99st and Broadway and we want to go to New Jersey.We go onto Broadway and wait for a street car that arrives quietly,they don't have to rattle and screech.We get on the last car because when the train gets to 96th st this car is going to disconnect and go down 96th st to the West Side Highway.Once it gets there it will hook up to another train going up the highway.Passengers will then be instructed to move to certain cars that will be taking certain exits.We want to go to New Jersey so we will go to the car that is crossing the GW bridge.On each side of the train there will be wide oneway walkways so people can pass easily from car to car.
11th night: Labor Law Reform:
Minimum wage in this country is $5.85 per hour,so if you work 40 hours you make $234 per week or $936 per month.I would start out by doubling that.If corporations can't afford to pay a living wage they should close their doors.Slavery was abolished 150 years ago.
12th night:Religious Reform:No more tax exemptions for religion.Religion is a business just like any other,they donate some of their money to charity but the bulk of it they keep.
13th night: Energy Reform:
Here's the deal.We pay them,they poison us,plus our government gives them a generous subsidy.I'm not sure who is getting a great deal here because we all breath the same air and we all drink the same water,well,unless you live in West Virginia where coal mining companies are leveling mountains to get at the coal,and the water is as you would expect,black.The owner of these large coal mining companies actually lives on top of a hill in the region,overlooking this disaster.I'm not sure what he is thinking,but maybe the money he is making is blurring his vision.
Nuclear power plants may not produce CO2 but they do produce the kind of waste that will be around for about 250,000 years.
Coal fired power plants produce huge amounts of CO2,mercury and acid rain,another bad idea.
Oil produces CO2 and we may be running out,we really don't know how long that will last.Don't expect either your government or Exxon Mobil to give you any notice on that one."Sorry we couldn't give you any notification of impending disaster,we were afraid you'd panic and stop buying our product."
Solar ,wind,tidal, geothermal and conservation is not sufficient to ,but that may be because little money has been invested in research.We need to start somewhere and we need to start now.Let us build breeder solar panel factories,factories that produce solar panels,powered by solar panels.
14th night.Bring back small independant newspapers,radio and TV and end the monopolization of the media by a few who wish to brainwash us into believing that none of this is possible
Labels: Solutions
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Friday, July 6, 2007
Harlem.More Parks.Less Condos.
I attended a meeting in February at the Apollo Theater, by an organization called
ICIC. That is the Initiative for Competitive Inner City.
I listened to various banks and other business organizations congratulate themselves on their great achievement over the years and their performance in bringing services to the inner city. A great part of this transformation focused on the bringing of a
Pathmark to 125
th street as an anchor, in order to attract other business to follow suit.
This was somewhat akin to Mayor
Dinkins bringing Disney to 42
nd st, in order to set the stage for further development there. However there is something quite disturbing about this picture.
Just as we understand that the revitalization of 42
nd st would not have been wise to begin with a
Pathmark, since it is in the heart of the theater district, it would be just as easy to make the same assessment of Harlem, which was the center for jazz and African American art during the Harlem Renaissance.
I am disturbed by this wholesale lack of understanding by the city of New York. When I walk along 125
th st, this tone of congratulations for bringing services to Harlem in the form of pharmaceuticals and cheap plastic
flapdoodle does not convince me that anything of any depth is being brought to this remarkable and most famous district in the world. Developers and government officials in Harlem, instead of remembering this unprecedented and eccentric history, are filling up the community with banks and Duane
Reades that raise rents and prevent the development of small business in the area.
When I was at the Apollo that evening in February I expected to meet other small business owners. All I met were independent contractors working as salesmen for other large businesses.
The other even more alarming aspect of this meeting was this lack of discussion of environmental issues. How long, are we going to wait? This business community, in a district that is rife with asthma and type 3 diabetes in children, cannot even mention some kind of building project that they are planning to develop on 125
th st that would be “green”. Some kind of project that is being proposed to clean up diesel fumes or turn some of these empty lots into parks with trees that can absorb some of this endless dumping of carbon into the atmosphere.
Instead we are stuck with the monotonous rows of condominiums one of which, the pretentiously named and very ugly Kalahari has photo
voltaics on the roof. This by the way is symbolic of our direction not just as a community but as a nation.
This planet that we all share is cyclical; there is virtually no waste in the natural world, all processes, directly or indirectly result in food for other species. The
lodgepole pine, when it becomes aged and unproductive puts out an audible song that can be heard by the mountain pine beetle, which then begins to eat and break down the tree, creating humus for the next generation. We can learn from nature. We must convert to a cyclical instead of linear process. As we take wood from clear-cut forests and process it into pulp for packaging and annual reports that employ a dioxin-creating bleaching process, we have taken an ancient cyclical process and converted it into a linear one.
What is the main purpose of business? It is to service the community. Yes, making money is secondary. This idea may be foreign to most businesses, especially if you went to business school and your teacher forgot to mention it, or after featuring it in the first class, it was quickly forgotten. You can easily see that corporations on 125
th st are not serving anyone else but themselves.
There is a nearly complete empty block between 127
th st and 128
th st and between Adam Clayton and St.Nicholas Ave. Should a community have to fight to turn it into a park,and a green market,where community lessons are given on
composting and
vermiculture? Or could this just come about because someone with the power to implement the necessary change is able to clearly see that a city without multiple parks is an incomplete city and a world that fails to recognize it’s own demise deserves to wake up one morning to see that now, it is too late.
Labels: Solutions
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Friday, May 4, 2007
Hand Cars for New York City
What is a hand car?That is the hand crank railway car that is featured in some movies,always a comedy. The opening scene of Blazing Saddles, depicting railroad construction, features a handcar.There was also a scene in Oh Brother Where Art Thou?
A
handcar or pump trolley is a maintenance railroad car powered by its passengers, or by people pushing the car from behind. A typical design consists of an arm that pivots, seesaw-like, on a base, which the passengers alternately push down and pull up to move the car.
In Japan, dozens of commercially operated handcar railway lines, called human car tramways existed in early 20th century. Those were purely built for its service, and "drivers" pushed small train cars all the way. The first line, Fujieda-Yaizu Tramway, opened in 1891, and most of others opened before 1910. Most lines were very short with less than 10 km lengths.Almost all the lines were closed before 1945.
Dressin refers to pedal-powered rail-cycles which were used by railroad maintenance workers in Finland, Sweden and Norway until about 1950.
Now dressins are used for recreation on several unused rail lines in Sweden, Norway, Poland and some other northern European countries. There are several companies renting dressins in Sweden.
In Finland there has been annual competition "Resiina-ralli" (translates "Draisine Rally"), which involves several draisine teams traveling many days in the railroads from one corner of the country to another. The rally is televised and is popular among TV-viewers.
This is just the beginning of an idea and perhaps some more thought should be put into it before posting this blog.But if you have some thoughts or ideas on how this could be incorporated into New York Transit.This is obviously not rapid transit but why does everything have to be so fast?I think we could consider this as an alternative to a 2nd ave line,which is talked about but we see little action beyond that.I see a loop that goes up 1st ave along 125st and down 2nd ave onto Chrystie St. along Canal and then back up Allen and onto 1st ave.Hundreds of hand cars would be left on these tracks and anyone who wanted could use it to go as far as he or she wanted.If nobody was using it the car would automatically lift itself off the track so it would not interfere with the movement of other cars.I think it would lend a carnival like atmosphere to a city that takes itself far too seriously and tourists would flock to see this city that would allow themselves to be seen in such a lighthearted way,exercising and moving together.
A roof could be added with solar panels to heat in the winter and help power the vehicles.Hand cars would always have the right of way.Each car would emit a pleasant sound to let pedestrians know they were coming down the tracks.
This may sound like a ridiculous idea but the subway was considered ridiculous when the idea was first introduced.Either way a decision to lay back the tracks that were covered over or torn up will be made and perhaps the handcar will never be implemented but some kind of tram or street car system is inevitable and it will have to be free to use so that we all use it and leave our cars where they belong,in the history books.
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Sunday, April 15, 2007
Best Dead Man on set at Sugar Hill Harlem Inn
Recently I got a call from a young lady,
Johanna Vanderspool,with a production company called
Hidden Treasures Productions, who wanted to shoot a scene for a documentary,called Secrets of the Soul,at Sugar Hill Harlem Inn,that will show on PBS this fall She came up and saw the rooms and chose Miles room to do the shoot.She seemed nice enough but little too sweet for my taste.
We agreed on the price and I made arrangements for her to do the shoot on Wednesday.They were scheduled to start at 8am.They ambled in one at a time and around about 9.30 they were all assembled and they started to organize the room and bring in equipment.
The first request for a favor, was to use the lobby to store their extra equipment.Then they wanted to use the reception room as a waiting area for the actors.Then they asked to put the food there too,which of course then became the area where all the crew came to eat.Then the make-up artist wanted to use a table in the kitchen to do the faces of the actors,and asked to borrow a mirror.The director also asked to borrow a few old photos that he wanted to use as props in the movie.
When it became time to shoot at around 11am it was brought to my attention that one of the actors had not shown up.The scene to be shot was about a doctor who took dying people and put them on a scale and measured their weight immediately before they died and immediately after.The doctor claimed that the difference was 21 grams and therefore this not only proved that the soul existed but proved that it carried some weight.This was a theory that, later on, thankfully was invalidated. The problem was that the dead man did not show up for the movie shoot and I was asked if I would just lie down on a bed and pretend to be dead. I agreed once again and I put on a costume which consisted of an off white long john jumpsuit.The make-up artist painted my face and lips,to make me look like a dead man.
I went upstairs and lay down where upon I was told that I had to pretend that I was dying of TB and therefore a deep
phlegmy cough was required with some loud wheezy breathing. Then I had to let my head tilt slightly as I closed my eyes and died.Of course the scene had to be shot over and over to get it right,but I was reassured that I played the part like an expert.I'm sure this is generally the mood on these shoots, to make the actors feel like they are doing a good job. I thanked them for the complement but was not going out in search of any more parts for dead and dying men.
While lying on the bed,I got to thinking about money.I thought it would be OK to ask for more money since they had used 3 times the space that they requested.I did not think that they did this intentionally,but it just turned out that way.In retrospective it is their business and they must have realised that the space was not big enough.I came downstairs and took off the make-up and the jumpsuit.I was then asked to,and signed a release form.Now most smart people would have not done that right away especially considering I was going to ask for more money.I assumed that even though she never offered any money either for the extra space or the "wonderful acting job"that I did, that she would agree to pay me something and gladly.The idea that she would come to my place knowing that there would not be enough space to do what needed to be done, and then push her way into my space little by little without being noticed like a scheming little weasel, did not even occur to my gullible self.
After I was dressed in my own clothes I called Johanna who had left early.I came right to the point and told her very calmly that I thought that she should pay me more money.Well let me tell you I saw another side of this sweet girl.She immediately flew into a tirade.She was furious.I was so rattled that before I knew it I was screaming back at her.She of course immediately brought this to my attention so I calmed down and I told her that perhaps if she let me speak then perhaps I would not have to raise my voice.She agreed to let me speak, but the minute I began to explain my side of the story she started speaking over me.Her main argument being that I should have asked before the end of the shoot.After a moment I realized that this conversation was going nowhere and I told her goodbye and hung up.
I decided to speak to the director and he was very understanding and of course reminded me of the wonderful acting job I had done and said he would speak to her about it.Later on, after he spoke to her, he came down and explained that in fact I would be better off to make a deal with her and get something rather than going to her boss who was a lawyer, and therefore an asshole,(my interpretation), and because nothing is signed, I would get nothing extra.She had offered me half the going rate for the space and zero for the acting job,since "she thought it would be so much fun".Is there a law against having fun and getting paid for it?
Why would a person has been accommodated in so many ways behave in such an outraged way,as if personal ingegrity were being questioned and ulterior motives suggested?History shows a consistant problem with self depreciation.A compelling urge to hold a boss,or a belief in so much awe that it becomes an extension of the ego,and the conditioned urge to be ambitious.This pernicious,economic,political, social and spiritual ambition to be something,always searching for a projection of the imagination.When society becomes victim to propadanda the system becomes more important than the individual.We live in a dangerous time then,with a constant bombardment of ads to buy name brands,to believe in this or that philosophy and most dangerous of all,to be patriotiotic.Let us not forget that history lesson.Throw those flags away.Rip up all those bibles and other holy books,throw the whole lot on a pile and burn it.Feel the liberation, the freedom from belief,your boss, your god, your country,your ego.
Labels: Solutions
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Friday, March 30, 2007
NY 9/11 Truth
2 PM Sunday April 1st - Looking Forward After 5 1/2 Years of Treason At The Top with
Ralph Schoenman
Come hear Ralph Schoenman at St. Mark’s Church on Sunday, April 1st at 2 p.m. for this dramatic and ground-breaking presentation.
Ralph will trace the continuity between the attacks of 9/11 and those in London and Madrid. His talk will track the 9/11 agenda in Iraq: U.S. and Israeli death-squad implementation of a genocidal design disguised as self-inflicted internecine and sectarian blood letting.
Learn how the orchestrated “confessions” of a long dead Khalid Sheikh Mohammad mirror the fictive proclamations of the equally deceased Abu Musab al Zarqawi. Hear how these orchestrated “menacing acts and proclamations” prepare for published plans of the rulers themselves to unleash a new 9/11 on a vaster scale. Examine the significance of Zbigniew Brzezinki’s prediction for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the the Bush Administration will stage an attack within the U.S. and impute it to Iran as a pretext for war. Join in discussing the magnitude of our common danger and in examining seriously what is to be done.
Donation: $8
Strategy Session
See how you can get involved in the most momentous topic of our times by either emailing us or leaving a message on our hotline. To get detailed updates of all planning meetings and events, please sign up for our mailing list above.
With the results of the midterm election, we have the potential for making some progress is creating change in Washington. The next several months will be absolutely crucial for waging a "9/11 truth offensive". Even if you can spend 1 or 2 afternoons or evenings a month awakening the public, you're presence is needed. Send an email to
info@ny911truth.org with "Volunteer" in the subject line.
Ground Zero
If you feel compelled to help the cause of spreading 9/11 truth, join us at Ground Zero on Saturdays from 1:00 to 4:00, weather permitting. Always check our Hotline at 212-714-7147 on Saturday morning to verify if we'll be there. We meet near the PATH station on the corner of Church and Fulton Streets. Look for our banner. This is a regular educational event where the public gets the facts and learns about serious questions which have been suppressed by the government and media. If you want to create widespread awareness of the true crimes of 9/11, this is how!
NYC 9/11 Ballot Initiative
Imagine the Nov. 6th general election having a check box enabling residents of NYC to vote for a new, independent investigation of 9/11!
NY911Truth.org and 911Initiative.org have entered into a cooperative agreement to work together on a NYC ballot initiative to create an independent 9/11 Commission through grassroots legislation. The concept is to bypass the stand down by our elected officials to fully investigate 9/11, by taking the issue directly to NYC voters. If successful, the initiative would create the kind of investigation 9/11 researchers have demanded for over 5 years through powers vested in the new Commission by the voters themselves.
911Initiative.org will continue to act as the central source for information and updates on the project, as well as working toward building a nation wide base to support the effort. NY911Truth.org will be taking the point in organizing volunteers for the signature phase of the project, and will be acting as the NYC base of operations for aspects of the project which need to be conducted locally.
We will need teams for petition gathering, PR, logistics, volunteer coordinators, fundraising, and more. Plans are taking shape now. We will aim to get 100,000 signatures and will have a window of 120 days to accomplish this. To be part of the action send an email to
mailto:info@ny911truth.org?subject=Initiative_Volunteer and include your name, location, and contact phone number(s).
BBC News Prematurely Announced Collapse of WTC7
Posted 3/9/07
Last week another huge smoking gun proving our case appeared. Someone found an archive of a BBC news segment talking about the collapse of Building 7 twenty-six minutes before it actually fell. This timing has been independently verified. Now the BBC is claiming they lost the original tapes, which according to an activist who has worked in media professionally, is virtually impossible due to the archive copies that always get created. We need to proclaim this from the rooftops, folks! See the following links and spread the word.
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/february2007/260207building7.htmhttp://www.wtc7.net/foreknowledge.htmlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqqhX8gkhE0http://www.911blogger.com/taxonomy/term/3239Boston 9/11 Truth Party
NEW ENGLAND ACTIVISTS STAGED "BOSTON TEA PARTY" FOR 9/11 TRUTHCRATES OF THE 9/11 COMMISSION REPORT WHICH WERE THROWN INTO BOSTON HARBOR
BOSTON, MA - In the spirit of American patriots who on December 16, 1773 rebuked Great Britain's tyranny by tossing crates of British tea into Boston Harbor, the Boston 9/11 Truth Committee enacted a "9/11 Truth Tea Party" on December 16, 2006, calling on "all American Sons and Daughters of Liberty to cast-off the tyranny, deceit and lies imposed on the American public by way of the official 9/11 Commission Report."
The Bill of Rights has been shattered since the events of 9/11. The flag above lists those cherished rights which have been eliminated. The colorful dots above were among over 50 dots with evidence and unanswered questions highlighting the fact that we have irrefutable evidence of lies, obstuction of justice, destruction of evidence, and more which prove that 9/11 was a manufactured false-flag terror attack. This was a powerful visual display that any thinking person and a responsible media would have to thoroughly consider. For more photos and info,
click here.
Auxiliary Firefighter/First Responder Speaks
After meeting him at Ground Zero just one week before, on Nov. 25th at St. Marks Church, Paul Isaac thrilled the audience at St. Marks Church in what was his first public speaking engagement. Paul had much to share based on his expertise which supported the claims that prior to the collapse of the World Trade Center towers, the fires were not only cooling, but it's likely the sprinklers were working. He addressed the issues of the firefigher's radios, saying that many of them as well as law enforcement are aware of the corruption of our leadership. He advocates for communities focusing on self-defense in the event of any future catastrophic events. Paul pointed out many aspects of the official account of 9/11 which just don't stand up to scrutiny, and shared an intriguing analysis of Controlled Demolition, Inc.'s demolition of the Maspeth Keyspan tanks and their resemblence to the collapse of the towers. His passion for truth, his solidarity with the community of first responders, and his desire for protecting our civil liberties were clearly evident. We look forward to hearing more from Paul in the future. For a film clip of Paul at Ground Zero,
click here.
Paul at Ground Zero during a First Responder's press conference.
Bush Moves Toward Martial LawBy Frank Morales
One of the many alarming consequences of 9/11 has been the erosion of civil liberties and movement towards a police state as a result of the "Global War On Terror". This article highlights two pieces of legislation that shows the reality of a draconian agenda which, if understood, seeks to confine and control the American people in an Orwellian fashion. - Ed. note
In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law (1). It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions.
Public Law 109-364, or the "John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (H.R.5122) (2), which was signed by the commander in chief on October 17th, 2006, in a private Oval Office ceremony, allows the President to declare a "public emergency" and station troops anywhere in America and take control of state-based National Guard units without the consent of the governor or local authorities, in order to "suppress public disorder."
Read full article
here.
Listen to Alex Jones of Frank Morales
here.
Peace Movement and NY 9/11 Truth ActivistsNow in Alliance
On Oct. 1st, the 9/11 Info Resource Series featured very special guest speakers from the peace movement. Melissa Van of NY State Peace Action, Elaine Brower of WorldCantWait.org, and Sam Lwin who was a concientous objector during Gulf War 1, shared their views about the importance of getting to exposing the official 9/11 deception as being integral to the cause for peace.
On Oct. 9th, WorldCantWait.org organized a National Day of Action to protest the war in Iraq. For the first time, 9/11 truth activists were asked to speak, which was historic. At least 5,000 people gathered at Dag Hammerskjold Plaza at the United Nations for speeches, then marched to Union Sq. for a full day of speeches and entertainment. A letter by actor Sean Penn, and a special appearance by Cynthia McKinney were the highlights. The 9/11 truth movement was highly visible throughout the day. Members were approached by many hundreds of peace activists.
See more photos on
Events page.
Another Smoking Gun: Condi & Crew Knew!
Famed Watergate reporter Bob Woodward is out with a new book, State of Denial. While it focuses on the lies of Bush and Rumsfeld regarding Iraq, it reveals that Condaleeza Rice was warned on July 10, 2001 by George Tenet and his counter-terrism expert, Cofer Black, that a serious attack was imminent.
In essence, Woodward shows that Condi blocked this key warning with what Tenet called "a brush-off". This is gross dereliction of duty and malfeasance, which are seriously punishable crimes. She then perjured herself in front of the 9/11 Commission, as is seen in the Mitchell article excerpt below, when she said the Aug. 6th Presidential Daily Briefing wasn't specific, was past tense, and only mentioned threats from abroad! After these criminal acts, SHE GOT PROMOTED TO SECRETARY OF STATE! What does this say? It incriminates the whole administration. See full article
here.
The 911 Truth Breakthrough Weekend
Several thousand people journeyed from all over the country to NYC for the events commemorating the 5th anniversary of the attacks. Four days of programs which sold out venues and a mass gathering of 5,000 at Ground Zero on Monday the 11th created a truly historic experience for all in attendance. This crowd filled both sides of an entire city block 10 deep. Each event had its own theme which contributed to the planners vision of providing hard facts, historical context, logical conclusions and activist solutions. Going by the response from the attendees, the weekend more than met our expectations. At the historic Great Hall at Cooper Union, keynote speakers such as famed attorney William Pepper, and veteran lecturer and global activist Ralph Schoenman claimed that the 9/11 Truth Movement is the one hope for justice and the reclaiming of our republic! Investigative journalist Wayne Madsen conveyed that the intelligence community has been purged of agents and analysts who weren't willing to go along with the Bush administration's agenda. Co-founder of Scholars For 9/11 Truth, Jim Fetzer, reported on Professor Steven Jones recent dismissal from Brigham University on paid leave for his involvement with 9/11 truth as yet another example of the assault on academic freedom in this country. And this is just a glimpse...
Combined with similar events which occurred around the country, we can truly say we've set the stage for a tsunami of truth for the 9/11 truth movement which will reverberate globally. The Project For A New American Century neocons got their catastrophic, catalyzing event on 9/11/01. Now we've created our own catalyzing event which will be catastrophic for their global domination agenda. Through 9/11 truth activists fulfilling their role as educators, communicators, and mobilizers for truth and justice, we can now redefine what it is to purify the predatory political structures which control and manipulate us into a new power paradigm in which We The People re-create those structures to serve us.
Op Ed - Les Jamieson
9/11 Truth appears at the doorstep of Elliot Spitzer's office
Alex Jones and Ralph Schoenman across from Ground Zero Crowd in front of Ground Zero Path Station
See more photos on our
Events page.
Taking to the Streets on 9/11
By Jerry Mazza, Associate EditorOnline Journal September 18, 2006
On the morning of 9/11, I couldn't watch the reading of names on NY1. Not five years in a row. I clicked off the ritual of bereaved families, somber politicos and media scripters and went to work on the computer. Before I knew it, it was 1 o'clock. Something gnawed. I needed to go down to Ground Zero, at least to pay my respects to the gone. Yet what I found was very alive.
Thousands of 9/11 Truth Movement members shouting, "9/11 was an inside job, 9/11 was an inside job." This interspersed with the raspy voice of Alex Jones booming the facts of the Towers' demise on a bullhorn. But this was no bull. This was a whole new ballgame.
Read full article
here.
Bin Laden Not Wanted for 9/11!
"The FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden with the 9/11 attacks on America" - FBI spokesman Rex Tomb
On June 5, 2006, reporter Ed Hass contacted the FBI Headquarters to learn why Bin Laden’s Most Wanted poster did not indicate that Usama was also wanted in connection with 9/11. He spoke with Rex Tomb, Chief of Investigative Publicity for the FBI. When asked why there is no mention of 9/11 on Bin Ladens Most Wanted web page, Tomb said, “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Ladens Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11.” (Source:
Teamliberty.net)
CIA reportedly disbands Bin Laden unit
A CIA unit that had hunted for Usama bin Laden and his top deputies for a decade has been disbanded, according to a published report. Citing unnamed intelligence officials, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the unit, known as "Alec Station," was shut down late last year. The decision to close the unit, which predated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, was first reported Monday by National Public Radio. (Source: Associated Press, July 4, 2006)
Read story
here.
9/11 First Responders: Voices From The PitSunday, June 25th at Community Church
I'm not sure how David Miller found us, but he has been attending our Sunday events for at least 3 months. NY 911 Truth has been enriched by his presence. Between hearing of his experience as a first responder with his National Guard unit, reading the many recent articles about the plight of responders, and meeting several other responders at a conference sponsored by SUNY-New Paltz, we've had our eyes and hearts opened to a unique aspect of the 9/11 tragedy.
We knew we had to have an event dedicated to calling attention to the cause of responders, survivors, and also downtown residents who were all told by the EPA, the air was safe to breath. However, 14 rescue dogs died and nearly 5 years later many responders have died, thousands are very sick, can't work, and are in dire straits financially. Adding insult to injury, 1 billion dollars of federal funds are sitting in an offshore bank account and many have had to fight to get workers comp due to incredibly slick maneuvering by government agencies. Our event began with comments from Father Frank Morales who served as chaplain at Ground Zero in the early weeks after the attacks. He shared an essay about his experience which was deeply moving. He also paid homage to Tim Keller, an EMT who died from toxic exposure exactly 1 year ago.
We then heard from former Air Force medic, Tim McPadden who was a search & rescue worker, Major Mike McCormack who served as a medic, specialist in collapsed infrastructure rescue and hazmat, David Miller, Gulf War I veteran and National Guard member serving at Ground Zero, and Janette McKinley who lives one block south of where the towers once stood. We also heard from Carl Person who is running for NY Attorney General as an independent. Carl shared his knowledge on what must be done from this jurisdiction in order to meet the needs of responders and truly investigate what turned the thousands of tons of concrete into pulverized dust.
The media in attendence included NY Daily News, New York 1 TV, Newsweek, and NY Newsday which published an excellent article which you can
read here.
New Zogby Poll Reveals Critical Mass Call for Truth
On May 22nd, a new Zogby Poll release shows that 42% of adults believe that the US government and its 9/11 Commission concealed or refused to investigate critical evidence that contradicts their official explanation of the September 11th attacks, saying there has been a cover-up. This amounts to 70 million people!
Additionally, 45% believe Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success.
See
911truth.org and
911blogger for full details and more pie charts.
It appears that the 9/11 truth movement is in a new phase. Now the task is to reach out to people in this category, craft the right message, and mobilize the right action. We have a monthly action campaign called
Citizens Counter-Coup which is perfect for directing people to.
United 93 Debut
Tuesday April 25th, the controversial new Universal Studios film on Flight 93 was screened for an invitation-only audience at the Ziegfeld Theater in midtown Manhattan. This dramatization of the official myth is yet another slick Hollywood production perpetuating the account of 9/11 which remains unproven and fails when opened to critical examination. The event which opened this year's Tribeca Film Festival dominated the whole block with a tented area for the audience to enter the theater, lines of black limousines, glitzy people, and a cadre of media filming the scene.
About a dozen 9/11 truth activists were there, including 2 producers of Loose Change 2, Dylan and Jason. Though small in number, our message was heard and visuals were seen by most of the thousand or so people attending. We were shouting lines like "The truth is not a movie!" and "9/11 was the New Pearl Harbor!". At one point several media teams converged on our side of the street to film and interview us. When the film opens in theaters nationwide, the movement will have an important opportunity to raise awareness of the official deception.
Spitzer On the Spot
NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been in a unique position to pursue the truth of 9/11. He has possessed powerful evidence and compelling questions for more than a year. Now he seeks the to become New York's next governor. The question is, why has he been silent on 9/11 issues and who does he really represent?
On Wed. March 22nd activists took to the street to ask these questions and more. Read story and see photos
here.
9/11 In The Media
Charlie Sheen Calls For Fresh 9/11 Investigation
He calls official explanation a 'conspiracy theory'...
By: Chris Taylor on 3/25/2006
Hollywood star Charlie Sheen believes the official version of events on September 11 as a “conspiracy theory”.
The Hot Shots star has controversially called for a fresh investigation into the multiple terrorist attacks in 2001 because he believes the US government’s explanation has covered up the real truth.
He told an American radio show, “It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box-cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75 per cent of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions.
"It is up to us to reveal the truth. It is up to us because we owe it to the families, we owe it to the victims, we owe it to everyone's life who was drastically altered, horrifically, that day and forever. We owe it to them to uncover what happened.
"A couple of years ago, it was severely unpopular to talk about any of this. It feels like from the people I talk to, and the research I've done and around my circles, it feels like the worm is turning."
Listen to the interview
here.
CNN's Showbiz Tonight Covers Sheen Interview
View interview
here.
911truth.org's Mike Berger And Charlie Sheen Hit The Mainstream
It was a first for America's mainstream media on Wednesday night (3/22/06). CNN Headline aired an interview with "9/11 Truth" spokesperson Michael Berger on Showbiz Tonight.
View CNN's Showbiz Tonight interview
here.CNN's move comes in the wake of a far-reaching article in New York Magazine on the 9/11 controversy this week at http://www.nymag.com/news/features/16464/index.html , which cited Tarpley, plus hard-hitting comments by actor Charlie Sheen on the Alex Jones talk radio show, infowars.com, on Monday, see prisonplanet.com
According to Alex Jones' website, "Actor Charlie Sheen has joined a growing army of other highly credible public figures in questioning the official story of 9/11 and calling for a new independent investigation of the attack and the circumstances surrounding it.
"Over the past two years, scores of highly regarded individuals have gone public to express their serious doubts about 9/11. These include former presidential advisor and CIA analyst Ray McGovern, the father of Reaganomics and former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury Paul Craig Roberts, BYU physics Professor Steven Jones, former German defense minister Andreas von Buelow, former MI5 officer David Shayler, former Blair cabinet member Michael Meacher, former Chief Economist for the Department of Labor during President George W. Bush's first term Morgan Reynolds and many more....
"The star of current hit comedy show Two and a Half Men and dozens of movies including Platoon and Young Guns, Sheen.... agreed that the biggest conspiracy theory was put out by the government itself... It seems to me like 19 amateurs with box cutters taking over four commercial airliners and hitting 75% of their targets, that feels like a conspiracy theory. It raises a lot of questions."
CNN Poll
As of noon on 3/26/06 there were 38,496 votes. 84% agree with Charlie Sheen that the U.S. government covered up the real events of the 9/11 attacks. Add your vote
here.
l
This just in. Thanks to Jon Gold for this comprehensive list of links to this week's events!
Third Night of Showbiz Tonight's Sheen 9/11 Coverage - Video Downloadhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/third-night-of-showbiz-tonights-sheen.html
Action Alert-Charlie Sheen Blows the Lid off the 9/11 Coveruphttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/action-alert-charlie-sheen-blows-lid.html
Follow Up Letter to 700 Structural Engineering Professorshttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/follow-up-letter-to-700-structural.html
No Longer The Minority: 82% Plus Support Charlie Sheenhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/no-longer-minority-82-plus-support.html
'Showbiz Tonight' Continues their 9/11 Coverage Tonight at 7pm ESThttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/showbiz-tonight-continues-their-911_24.html
Student Member of Scholars for 9/11 Truth Shot Deadhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/student-member-of-scholars-for-911.html
Author of Recent 9/11 Article in New York Magazine On Air Americahttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/author-of-recent-911-article-in-new.html
Hannity & Colmes Cover Sheen's 9/11 Comments - Video Downloadhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/hannity-colmes-cover-sheens-911.html
Showbiz Tonight Follows Up Sheen Coverage With Alex Jones - Video Downloadhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/showbiz-tonight-follows-up-sheen.html
Making Sense of Charlie Sheen's 9/11 Media Coveragehttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/making-sense-of-charlie-sheens-911.html
9/11 Skeptics Receive Fair Shake on Showbiz Tonight - Video Downloadhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/911-skeptics-receive-fair-shake-on.html
Charlie Sheen coverage tonight on CNN?http://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/charlie-sheen-coverage-tonight-on-cnn.html
9/11 Breakout: Message from Webster Griffin Tarpleyhttp://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/911-breakout-message-from-webster.html
Huge Reaction To Sheen 9/11 Storyhttp://prisonplanet.com/articles/march2006/210306hugereaction.htm
Charlie Sheen Questions Official Story of 9/11http://www.911blogger.com/2006/03/charlie-sheen-questions-official-story.html
Is It Safe Yet? 911Truth.org Hits Prime Time on CNNhttp://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20060323162638376
Vote at CNN Pollhttp://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20060323172029750
Spitzer On the Spothttp://www.911truth.org/article.php?story=20060323124843177
Helen Thomas Speaks Of The PNAC, And The President's Desire For Iraq - Video Insidehttp://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9180
9/11 Attacks: Avoiding the Hard Questionsby Robert Steinback
Published on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 by the Miami Herald
I was 8 years old when President John Kennedy was shot to death in Dallas in 1963. If grace favors me, I'll be 62 when documents related to the assassination are released to the public, and 84 when the Warren Commission's investigative files into the tragedy are finally opened.
That's a long time to wait for a chance to evaluate the purported truth.
Read
full article..."Economic Hit Man" John Perkins Speaks Out for 9/11 Truth (thanks to Tim Boyle for this!)
John Perkins is the bestselling author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. The hardcover reached #9 on the New York Times Bestseller List, the paperback is currently #9, and it has been translated into 20 languages. On national TV he has clearly said that he is appalled by the lack of investigation into 9/11 and that the media has failed us. In so many words he said we ought to be looking at whether 9/11 was an inside job. For him to do this took courage, and it will help to open minds to the issue. Is this a sign the 9/11 Truth issue could be moving from "unmentionable" to "an issue that really should be investigated"?
Read more...The Week The Nation Went Down The 9-11 Rabbit Hole
by Les JamiesonMarch 26, 2006
We always knew that one good news event exposing the official deception of 9/11 could be the catalyst to unravel the Big Lie. We didn’t know there would be several news events in one week! Now we see what it looks like when the truth breaks loose.
Last Monday, March 20th, an article titled “The Ground Zero Grassy Knoll” by Mark Jacobson came out in New York Magazine. The 8,000 word article with photos gets to core questions still unanswered after 4 ½ years and delineates the four different possible viewpoints regarding the attacks. We get to view 9/11 in the context of other unsolved conspiracies and their cover-ups. One of the points most incriminating to the government is that NIST lead investigator stated that he couldn’t explain why Building 7 collapsed. This gets personal. Mark saw the Building 7 freefall himself.
Right on the heels of this ground-breaking article, actor Charlie Sheen was interviewed by radio host and documentary producer, Alex Jones. Alex is known for his investigative work into false flag terror and New World Order machinations. Sheen expressed his grave doubts about the official explanation of 9/11 and gave detailed reasons why. He also witnessed part of that tragic day and is speaking from first hand experience. His celebrity status coupled with what's considered a far-fetched conspiracist viewpoint made this a very risky move and required great courage and exhibited great passion for truth.
Read full article
here.
The 9/11 Commission Report: A 571-Page Lie
by Dr. David Ray Griffin9/11 Visibility ProjectSunday, May 22, 2005
In discussing my second 9/11 book, The 9/11 Commission Report: Omissions and Distortions, I have often said, only half in jest, that a better title might have been “a 571-page lie.” (Actually, I was saying “a 567-page lie,” because I was forgetting to count the four pages of the Preface.) In making this statement, one of my points has been that the entire Report is constructed in support of one big lie: that the official story about 9/11 is true.
Another point, however, is that in the process of telling this overall lie, The 9/11 Commission Report tells many lies about particular issues. This point is implied by my critique’s subtitle, “Omissions and Distortions.” It might be thought, to be sure, that of the two types of problems signaled by those two terms, only those designated “distortions” can be considered lies.
Read more...Multi-Media for 9/11
One of the best methods for educating ourselves on the facts and lies of 9/11 is through documentaries and films of conferences. There are hours of web-based film footage that fit this description at
9/11Busters.com. You'll find lectures from the San Francisco Inquiry in March of 2004, the Citizen's Commission on 9/11, and much more. Spread the word!
9/11 Truth Now Streaming on Internet!
Launched on Saturday, on the 3rd anniversary of 9/11, we have a new streaming radio station,
http://www.911truthradio.com/.
Expected guests include:
Webster Tarpley, author George Bush: The Unauthorised BiographyIndira Singh, whistleblower on PTECH scandalPaul Thompson, cooperativeresearch.orgPaul Joseph Watson, author, webmaster PrisonPlanet.comStanley Hilton, lawyer, representing 400 9-11 victims' familiesPhil Jayhan, webmaster LetsRoll911.orgMichael Springman, former head of US visa bureau, Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaIan Henshall, author, webmaster 911dossier.co.ukNick Kollertsrom, 9-1 researcher
Recorded interviews withJim Marrs, authorMichael Meacher, MP
Why is the U.S. government censuring Sibel Edmonds?
Read exactly what limits have been imposed on Sibel Edmonds
HERETake Action
Please sign the following petition. You're participation will make a difference!
Sign the petition calling for a REAL investigation at
http://www.ny911truth.org/www.justicefor911.org. This supports a formal legal document filed with NY Attorney General Elliot Spitzer.
Call Our Hotline Number
FOR INFO ON EVENTS AND SATURDAY ACTIONS AT GROUND ZERO
212-714-7147
DIRECTIONS
subway to Fulton Street is just east of the WTC Site.
Updated 3/26/2007 14:22:26
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Monday, March 26, 2007
Nothing
"Be severe to yourself and severe to others. Suppress the sentiments of relationship, friendship, love, and gratitude. Have only one pleasure, one joy, one reward -- the triumph of the revolution. Night and day, have only one thought, the destruction of everything without pity. Be ready to die and ready to kill any one who opposes the triumph of your revolt." Michael Bakunin (1814-76)
Nihilism in Russia had true adherents only among students of the universities and higher schools, and among the middle classes. The peasants and workmen did not understand its ideals of destruction and of social revolution.It would seem,from this that the less education you have the better off you are.The peasants with little access to schools did not believe the razzmatazz,but the intellectuals believed in the message.It's lucky the peasants were in the majority.
Most people who read the above monologue are going to think that this must have been written by a madman,but if you believe that you live in a society that is so corrupt,that has been so degraded,you may think that the only way to save the village is to burn it down.The uneducated peasants were at the bottom of the barrel,they were hungry, overworked,in pain and tired.They were not ready to go any further down that road,so they rejected it and probably went off to church and prayed which in this particular case may have been the lesser of the two evils.
Everyone has a new idea to sell and generally it is about believing in something.
Lately it seems to be about believing in yourself,whether it is
The Secret,or
Consuelo Mack,or
Dr John Demartini,it all seems to be about gaining self control by believing in yourself and it is presented as the latest snake oil treatment.Like all religions,it only works if you believe in it.You must have faith in order to join the latest pyramid scheme or cult,and a desire to find the answer,to find god or that pot of gold.
Most people would say that they believe in education,and more people can read and write than at any time in history.In that case all those who believe in education would therefore believe that the world we live in is a better place than at any other time in history.If the first thing you or your child does,when going to school is recite the pledge of allegiance,or say a prayer,you are not being educated,if there are no extensive arts and music classes,then you are not being educated, you,or your child are being programmed.
Many people belong to some kind of religion.Organized religions with their sacred books,their dogmas,their hierarchies and rituals offer a false solution.All organized beliefs are based on separation,though they may preach brotherhood. When you quote the
Bhagavad Gita or the Bible,you are merely repeating and that is a lie because the truth cannot be repeated.A lie can be propounded but not truth,so sacred books are unimportant.It is through self-knowledge,not belief in
an other's symbols that one finds truth,the same goes for nationalism or patriotism.
"My country!" "My religion!" "My flag!" are just cries of stupidity.
A couple of years ago my nephew presented me with a new idea.It was very simple.He got us all into a room drew the curtains,put cushions on the floor lit some candles and some incense,put on some music and explained that he had this formula that would completely change the way we perceived life.I was a little hesitant, but I wanted to see where this ride would take me, so holding the pipe in my hand I took a long draw.I sucked that smoke deep into my lungs and instantly,I was in another world,it was strangely familiar but deeply disturbing.My eyes were closed but I saw vivid patterns,I was gripped by a sense of panic that was unspeakable,I was caught in,what I can only describe as a spiral of meaningless hypocrisy.I felt myself spinning around into the center of the spiral where I was an empty dot,with a feeling of intense dread that I was locked for eternity in this state, floating in space completely alone.I was held in this state,for maybe about 10 minutes,I was terrified, not of death but eternal life.Suddenly,the spiral broke and I was released,I opened my eyes and I was in the room.My nephew stood by the door watching me.I was now overwhelmed by a combination of euphoria and relief.I leaped to my feet and rushed over to my nephew hugging him and exclaiming how much I loved him and now I got it,I understood,I knew the answer,it was so clear.After a moment I felt exhausted so I lay down on the cushions and gazed at the ceiling.For the next few hours I drifted in and out of euphoria and panic,at one moment unsure whether I was alive or dead.Looking at a digital clock I decided that if the time changed I was alive and if it did not then I was dead.I waited for what seemed like much longer than a minute and was relieved to see the time change.I remained in a state of shock for about a week and was unable to sleep,but slowly life swung back to normal.The problem was that I could not remember what this great manifestation was,it was just like a dream that faded away. I took this drug
5-MeO-DMT again twice to see it I could hold onto this vision.I could not,just as it happened the first time the divination slipped away no matter how hard I tried to hold onto this divine revelation.Even though this was a terrifying journey I am glad I visited this strange familiar place,I was jolted into another existence that is there,but it is only inside my head.My imagination created all the panic, the fears,the euphoric exclamation.If I start to perceive that I have gone further than that then I might as well solicit the help of the gods.The best I have done , in the words of Jim Morrison is,"
Break on through to the other Side,"but the other side of what?We like to imagine there is something for us at the end,that we will get rich and then we will have everlasting life.For what reason would anyone want everlasting life?I read once that during an orgasm there is a split second when you are in the presence of god,well that might be nice for a couple of days or weeks but then what?The only belief that interests me, is the belief in nothing,myself,my ego, included.Of course this is impossible,since nothing is still something,so you just keep shoveling the ideas out,they keep on coming at you because someone always has a new answer,a new idea,a new theory.So you take it in you inspect it and then just as you are beginning to like the idea,you toss it out.It reminds me of that song,
God, by John Lennon when he expressed his disbelief in everything and he goes through the list of stuff he does not believe in but in the end he has to break down and believe in something.I think it was himself or Yoko or something banal like that.He was close and perhaps if he had lived a little longer he could have arrived at a more complete state of nihilism.
Labels: Solutions
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Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Wind that Shakes the Barley
As Sir Winston Churchill himself declared: "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."
Much has been said about Germany and it's roll in the extermination of millions of Jews in the 10 years from 1935-1945.It seems that every angle of this atrocity has been covered and yet still every year more books and more movies cover this dark side of our own human history.Why the Germans?As a child growing up in the 50's and 60's I often wondered how it would feel to be German and to carry that enormous weight of guilt,that a German child of my age must have surely endured.
"Never again" is the phrase that I remember hearing.And so it seems we predict our own destiny to constantly repeat over and over again.And after 911 I remember hearing,"We will never be the same"and "We must never forget" What a thing to say and what a concept to predict. The name 911 ensures one thing and that is that it will not be forgotten for a long time.Few people remember the date of Pearl Harbour so the day can come and go and we are not even aware of it.Other days that we always are aware of besides our own birthdays are Christmas and Easter,July 4
th and Thanksgiving.All over Europe and in France, Mayday,"
demandez muguet le premier
mai"a phrase forever embedded in my head after spending 2 consecutive springs in Paris.In England,there is Guy Fawkes Day,surely the oddest day for a country to remember since Guy Fawkes was the man that tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
So why Germany?Why, of all the atrocities that humanity has committed is the one that Germany committed considered the worst of all.Mao killed 30 million Chinese in the late 50's and early 60's,during his
Great Leap Forward,as a foot note he also invaded
Tibet which has led to the subsequent death of 1.2 million Tibetans.There were 100's of years of slavery which killed untold amounts people,so many that nobody would even try to guess.How many died during the 100's of years of the
genocide of the Native Americans?How many
Vietnamese did the the French kill?How many did the Americans kill after them, leading to
the dirty war in Cambodia and then Pol Pot who killed a third of all Cambodians in the 70's?.How many are still suffering from the debilitating effects of
Agent Orange?
The Philippine-American War, from February 1899 to July 1902, claimed 250,000 Filipino lives -- some say as many as 1 million and the only people who seem to know anything about this are the Filipinos.
The people who really seem to have gotten away with murder on a grand scale were of course those lovable Brits,so I guess Churchill was not the only Brit writing his own history.The great thing about winning a war is of course that you get to write the story.So here are a couple of quotes from the great British hero of the mid 20
th century "I am strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against uncivilized tribes," this statement was made in 1919. Churchill was secretary of state at the war office when the Royal Air Force asked him for permission to use chemical weapons against "recalcitrant Arabs",the Kurds, as an experiment. Winston promptly consented. Churchill's gassing of the Kurds
pre-dated Saddam's by nearly 70 years.
In language later appropriated by the Israelis, Winston Churchill had this to say about the Palestinians in 1937: "I do not agree that the dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance, that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race, a more worldly wise race to put it that way, has come in and taken their place."
The new Irish movie "The Wind that shakes the Barley"covers a small chapter in the the long history of the British Empire.If the sun never sets on the British Empire then I guess the sun never rises either,and that was a long dark night.In 1921, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, approximately one-quarter of the world's population. It covered about 36.6 million km² (14.2 million square miles), about a quarter of Earth's total land area.
In December of 1922 the Irish gained their Independence and the Brit's saw the beginning of the end of their empire.The intense cruelty has somehow been forgotten,and maybe that is good for the Irish to put this behind them and I'm sure the Brits appreciate this but they should stop playing the victim,and their
whining about the air raids by Hitler over London.I'm sure the citizens of
Baghdad did not appreciate bombs raining down on them in 2003.And since the Irish are willing to forget about something as brutal as
pitchcapping,they should forgive Germany for what they did.
Pitchcapping refers to a form of torture devised by British forces in 18
th century Ireland which was widely used against suspected rebels during the period of the 1798 Rebellion.The process involved pouring hot pitch, or tar , into a conical shaped paper "cap", which was forced onto a bound
suspect's head and then allowed to cool. Less elaborate versions included smearing a cloth or paper with pitch and pressing onto the head of the intended victim. The "
pitchcap" was then torn off taking lumps of skin and flesh with it which usually left the victim disfigured for life.
Refinements to the torture included unbinding the victim's feet to allow the spectacle of them running about in agony and in some cases, deliberately smashing their own heads in an attempt to end the torment. Another variation involved adding turpentine or gunpowder to the
pitchcap when cooled and then setting it alight.
OK I know that is not the way the Brits behave anymore and that is in the past and we must forgive and forget,but
dropping cluster bombs,or
Storm Shadow bombs and other types of bombs from 20-30 thousand feet is not very civil either and just because you don't have to witness the suffering does not make it ok,so "ban the bomb" is still a good idea.
The Wind that Shakes the Barley is not just a movie about Ireland,it is a movie about everyone,everywhere,it is our past,our present and hopefully not our future.
I sat within the valley green, I sat me with my true love
My sad heart strove the two between, the old love and the new love
The old for her, the new that made me think on Ireland dearly
While soft the wind blew down the glen and shook the golden barley
'Twas hard the woeful words to frame to break the ties that bound us
But harder still to bear the shame of foreign chains around us
And so I said, "The mountain glen I'll seek at morning early
And join the bold united men," while soft winds shake the barley
While sad I kissed away her tears, my fond arms round her flinging
A yeoman's shot burst on our ears from out the wildwood ringing
A bullet pierced my true love's side in life's young spring so early
And on my breast in blood she died while soft winds shook the barley
I bore her to some mountain stream, and many's the summer blossom
I placed with branches soft and green about her gore-stained bosom
I wept and kissed her clay-cold corpse then rushed o'er vale and valley
My vengeance on the foe to wreak while soft wind shook the barley
But blood for blood without remorse I've taken at
Oulart Hollow And laid my true love's clay cold corpse where I full soon may follow
As round her grave I wander drear, noon, night and morning early
With breaking heart when e'er I hear the wind that shakes the barley
Robert Dwyer Joyce (1836-1883)
Labels: Solutions
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Tuesday, March 20, 2007
"All the news that is unfit to print"
The New York Times slogan,"All the news that's fit to print." is a strange jingle for a newspaper,that prides itself on unobstructed journalism.If it is fit to print, then it seems like it is by some means, sanitized.
What about the news that is
not fit to print?What happens to that?Perhaps there could be a new section in the skimpy Saturday's Times , The Unfit Section added to bulk out the paper.Since it would be all unfit news they could offer discount advertising. They complain that
bloggers are stealing all their steam,and more important their advertising revenues,so I offer my ideas free of charge, as hand of support.However....
In February 2000, the Times teamed with Forest City
Ratner Companies, headed by Bruce
Ratner, a key Giuliani fundraiser.Under the deal then Governor George
Pataki and the state-controlled Empire State Development Corporation used its power of condemnation to take the property from its unwilling private owners and turn it over to the Times for a 52-story corporate headquarters along Eighth Avenue between 40
th and 41st streets. They got a choice midtown property at about 80 million dollars below market value—and city taxpayers paid the difference. The
Pataki administration, acting on behalf of the New York Times Company, condemned the property for a so-called "public purpose." This is the standard the Fifth Amendment sets for the state to invoke the immense power of eminent domain.
At one time, "public purpose" usually meant a highway, bridge, or utility service—something the public was actually allowed to use. But now it's routine for the courts to declare it a "public purpose" for the state to seize privately owned land so that another private owner can erect a very private office building where the public are denied access.The lease which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, also bars renting space in the 52-story building for "a school or classroom or juvenile or adult day care or drop-in center." It forbids "medical uses, including without limitation, hospital, medical, or dental offices, agencies, or clinics." It gives the New York Times Company "the sole and absolute discretion" to reject United Nations or foreign-government offices, including any "considered controversial" or that are potentially the focus of demonstrations. It bans any "employment agency (other than executive-search firms) or job training center" and auction houses, "provided, however, the foregoing shall not apply to high-end auction houses specializing in art and historical artifacts." Discount stores are forbidden. And the deal bars "a welfare or social-services office, homeless shelter or homeless assistance center, court or court-related facility."
In fact, any government office is excluded from the building if it would attract people who arrive "without appointment."
Also no tacky fast food joints like McDonald's or Taco Bell's, but Starbucks or Cosy will fit right in to the bourgeois neighborhood ambiance. A student dormitory, business school, hat shop, fabric store,and a fruit and veggie stand were bulldozed to make way for the new Times headquarters.
Condemnation of private property for private development in New York City is often done as part of a no-bid deal that favors politically powerful businesses—companies that are major campaign contributors, hire politically connected lobbyists, or in the case of the Times, are media companies with enormous clout.
This is my suggestion for the first story for the Unfit Section.I think most people would find that more interesting than the Sunday Style Section, or some of that other
plutocratic crap, they love to run, that only social climbers, love to read.
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Saturday, March 17, 2007
Boycott St. Patrick's Day Parade
A boycott is the act of abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with someone or some organization as an expression of protest or as a means of coercion.
The word boycott entered the English language during the Irish "Land War" and is derived from the name of Captain Charles Boycott, the estate agent of an absentee landlord, the Earl Erne, in County Mayo, Ireland who was subject to social ostracism organized by the Irish Land League in 1880. In September that year protesting tenants demanded from Boycott a substantial reduction in their rents. He not only refused but also ejected them from the land. Charles Stuart Parnell, in his Ennis Speech proposed that, rather than resorting to violence, everyone in the locality should refuse to deal with him. Despite the short-term economic hardship to those undertaking this action, Boycott soon found himself isolated — his workers stopped work in the fields, stables as well as the house. Local businessmen stopped trading with him and the local postman refused to deliver post.
The concerted action taken against him meant that Boycott was unable to hire anyone to harvest the crops in his charge. Eventually 50 Orangemen from Cavan and Monaghan volunteered to harvest his crops. They were escorted to and from Claremorris by one thousand policemen and soldiers – this despite the fact that Boycott's complete social ostracism meant that he was actually in no danger of being harmed. Moreover, this protection ended up costing far more than the harvest was worth. After the harvest, the "boycott" was successfully continued. Within weeks Boycott's name was everywhere. It was used by The Times in November 1880 as a term of organized isolation. According to an account in the book “The Fall of Feudalism in Ireland” by Michael Davitt, the term was coined by Fr. John O' Malley from County Mayo to "signify ostracism applied to a landlord or agent like Boycott". The Times first reported on November 20, 1880: “The people of New Pallas have resolved to 'boycott' them and refused to supply them with food or drink.” The Daily News wrote on December 13, 1880: “Already the stoutest-hearted are yielding on every side to the dread of being 'Boycotted'.” By January of the following year, the word was being used figuratively: "Dame Nature arose....She 'Boycotted' London from Kew to Mile End" (The Spectator, January 22, 1881).
On December 1, 1880 Captain Boycott left his post and withdrew to England, with his family.
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Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Harlem.The Public Service Commission. Use it.
Most people have heard of the
Better Business Bureau .Less have heard of the
Public Service Commission.The problem is that most people,especially the disenfranchised, never use these services. A great deal of energy went into putting these agencies in place to protect your rights and it is your right and your role to use it.
If you have never used either of these agencies,you have been,are being,or about to be, screwed Let's start with the Public Service Commission.They cover: Electric, Gas, Telecommunications, Water, Cable and Steam.
Electric and gas in NY state come on the same bill,I think.They certainly do in New York City.You have a problem with Con Ed, for example, and you feel that you are being screwed and you can't understand why they don't give a damn about you,the customer.They are threatening to cut off your lights and gas.You may not know it, but you are in a very powerful position if you file a complaint with the Public Service Commission.
If Con Ed is not turning
on your gas and or electricity,if you are unfortunate to be involved in some nightmarish construction project, and you are right at the end of this thing, and the only part holding you back is Con Ed, call the Public Service Commission.It is like someone turned a light on in the middle of your head.Now all of a sudden you are being treated like a customer, a very important customer.The word ,fawning and obsequious comes to mind.
"Yes Mr Smith.No Mr Smith,we will be right there Mr Smith".
And when it is all done they don't leave you alone.
"Was everything done to your satisfaction Mr Smith?".
"Yes,everything is fine now,but please stop calling me,this the 3rd time you called today".
The same goes for Verizon or whatever lame phone company you were unfortunate enough to be stranded with.Water and cable problems are also issues that the Public Service Commission deal with.If you turn on the tap, or your TV and the water,or the reception, is some sickly shade of yellow,and you are not getting service, call them.
If you don't like your bill and you feel that you are being burned,then most likely you are.Every state has a Public Service Commission so if you don't live in New York, you can still file a complaint.The last item on the list is steam, and I'm not sure what that is but perhaps that has something to do with the way you will feel,before,during and after your struggle.
Remember these companies are monopolies and this Public Service Commission is in place to protect your rights.All I ask is, that you tell other people what I am telling you.Not enough people file complaints about these monopolies and so they end up just servicing the people who do, and everyone else gets shafted.They get huge fines levied against them when they get too many complaints. They spend little or no money on maintenance and then blackouts occur like the one in
Queens last summer.
The other agency is the
Better Business Bureau and these guys are great.I avoid bureaucrats like the plague,but this is different.For a change,they are on your side.I've seen
Citi Bank, Chase and GE groveling, giving back the money they tried to steal, and
apologizing for any
inconvenience.The Public Service Commission help out with the monoplies and the Better Business Bureau with all the other businesses.This includes auto/lemon laws and id theft.
Always remember,to pass this information on. Don't forget to thank the people that helped you.Sometimes it is hard to imagin a person there working on your behalf especially if you file these complaints online.
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